


The Deal

by Auriana Valoria (AuriV1)



Category: Forgotten Realms
Genre: Gen, Modern Girl in the Realms, Red Wizards, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 21:46:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13257264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuriV1/pseuds/Auriana%20Valoria
Summary: My part of a trade with SnippetsRUs. Featuring her Finnish OC, Eliina, who falls through to the Forgotten Realms via a portal and must make a deal with Zhengyi the Red Wizard before she can return home.





	The Deal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SnippetsRUs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnippetsRUs/gifts).



The scent of pungent flowers and musty cloth filled Eliina’s nostrils. Slowly, she peeled her eyes open to see grey stone blocks all around her – worn, dark, and half-grown over with vines and moss creeping in through cracks around a barred window. Some dilapidated wardrobe stood on a far wall, and beside it was an aged oaken door, split almost all the way down the middle. All in all, the room was no bigger than a closet. But she didn’t recognize it.

Unable to remember where precisely she was, Eliina sat straight up in bed, her blue eyes wide and her heart pounding in her throat. She found herself on a tiny cot, a moth-eaten blanket tossed over her. The blanket she threw aside, and the sight of her singed, torn, and muddy kirtle brought back a flood of memories…

_Power…power unlike anything she had seen before. Flashes of fire and lightning. The smell of burning hair. She remembered the taunts, the laughter…running, almost out of breath, falling…_

_And then, there was a swirl of red. And the laughter turned to screams…and her vision was consumed with darkness._

Warlocks. She had been running from warlocks who wanted to kill her. Why, she didn’t know. She remembered her necklace flaring bright, her mojo bag humming at her side when a giant fireball suddenly bore down on her. Somehow, she had escaped that conflagration entirely unharmed…

Pale hands patted at her neck as she glanced downwards. Both her necklace and her bag were gone. Eliina cursed inwardly. Someone must have taken them.

That was when she remembered the _other one_ more clearly. The warlock who saved her.

He had come out of nowhere in a rush of scarlet. She thought he might have been bald, but she couldn’t rightly remember too much for the more overwhelming memory of _power_ …raw and strong. That was what stuck out the most. She _felt_ it, rushing outwards from him and snuffing out the lives of her attackers in an instant, all at once blinding and frightening.

She had _never_ felt magic like that before.

Eliina slowly swung her legs over the side of the cot, looking around the room warily. Had he brought her to safety? Was this part of his home? Or had he taken her somewhere else? Or had he just left her passed out in the woods and let someone else deal with her? In any case, she was whole, unharmed, and very much alive. That was definitely something to be thankful for.

Smoothing down the front of her dress with her hands, she stood and tucked her mussed black hair behind her ears, approaching the door to the little room and carefully listening for anything beyond it before slowly pushing it open. The door creaked terribly, and she winced as the hinges whined. Someone needed to oil those.

Tentatively, Eliina peeked her head around the doorway and looked beyond to see a very narrow hallway, at the end of which was a spiral staircase. The hall, like her room, was damp and musty and covered with creeping vines and springy moss. Wherever this place was, it was abandoned and nearly overgrown – nature was slowly but surely reclaiming it. Swallowing, she took a breath and continued on down the hall, her feet padding softly against the worn stones. There were two more doors along the hall, she noted, though she didn’t dare open them. Instead, she headed for the staircase, where a flood of light illuminated the grey stonework of the building.

There was a massive gash in the wall of the stairwell, through which sunlight poured past twisted branches and thick foliage. There was a significant draft, and Eliina shivered. From what she remembered of the scenery when she had fallen into this strange place, it wasn’t winter. But the frigid blast that issued forth from the gash in the wall made her think otherwise.

Shaking her head, she forced herself to focus on finding a way out. Or at least, finding out who had brought her here and asking them if they could kindly point the way back to her home. Surely if they had saved her, they wouldn’t mind giving her some directions?

Eliina hugged herself tightly as she made her way down the spiral stair. The stones were set quite a bit apart, so that each one took two paces to cross. There was no hand rail or anything to support her, and so she descended slowly and carefully, making sure her footing was secure on the damp stones before taking another step forward. A tumble down these unforgiving stairs would most certainly hurt…

At the bottom, there was another door, very similar to the one that had separated her room from the hall. A significant chunk was missing from the right-hand edge of the wooden slab, and Eliina peeked through that hole into the chamber beyond.

From what she could see, it was a circular room, with furniture lining the walls…bookshelves mostly, and nearly overflowing with tomes and scrolls. These immediately caught her attention: some of the books looked to be gilded with real gold; others were falling apart at the spines. The scrolls continued in piles on the floor, stacked at the bases of the bookcases. Scattered around these piles were materials of all sorts – chains of silver and gold, bits and pieces of engraved metal, fabrics that appeared to be embroidered silk in various colors and lengths, even what looked to be rocks and crystals. Standing beside these shelves, under a slender arched window, was a massive desk, atop which were piled more scrolls and books, as well as vials and bottles filled with brilliantly-hued liquids the color of which she had never seen before. What appeared to be alchemical equipment of some kind was arranged neatly at one corner, bubbling with another odd brew that shifted from purple to blue and back again. On the other side of the desk was a small fireplace, lit and merrily crackling with flame, in front of which was a tall-backed wooden chair, the cushion of which had half of the stuffing falling out of it. Another pile of scrolls lay at its feet.

But despite the obvious signs of someone yet calling this derelict place home, there was no one else in sight. Eliina didn’t know whether to be concerned or relieved by that fact. Nevertheless, sure that no one was going to stop her at that point, she carefully pushed through the doorway, wincing as this one creaked loudly, too. The room beyond was significantly warmer than the stairwell, and she audibly sighed her contentment as the door fell shut behind her.

“Ooh! You awake!”

The squeaky voice startled Eliina so badly she stumbled backwards into the door in fright. Her eyes darted frantically around the room in a desperate attempt to find the source of the voice, but to no avail.

“Up here, stupid!”

At that, she glanced upwards. There, hanging upside down from the rafters like a ruddy-skinned bat, was probably one of the most hideous things Eliina had ever seen. It looked like some sort of miniature troll or devil out of the old fairy tales, with tiny black horns, a sinewy tail, and a massive, hellish grin on its pointy face. It looked at her with beady black eyes shining in its head, and as she caught sight of it, it flipped itself upright. Then, it sprang into the air with a wicked cackle, madly flapping its leathery wings to keep aloft.

“Master will want to know, teehee! You stay put!”

And with a loud _pop!_ and a puff of dark smoke, the thing abruptly vanished into thin air.

 _What was that thing?!_ Eliina thought, with no inkling as to what to do now. Was this “Master” the warlock who had saved her? Or someone else entirely? And most importantly, _what was that thing!?_

But before she could even decide whether or not to stay put like the little monster had told her to or to try and run for cover, there was a _whoosh_ and swirl of bright violet in the center of the room, nearly blinding her with its brightness. And from this cloud of magic, which made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, stepped her rescuer.

Yes, he was indeed bald. She had remembered right after all. His shaven pate was covered with a massive, intricate, and strange tattoo in black ink, so busy in design that it almost made her eyes cross to focus on it. His skin was a warm golden color, his face chiseled, his nose hawkish and sharp. His eyes were dark, nearly black even in the firelight. And he wore the same scarlet robes from before, layers of fine silk embroidered in gold thread and studded with bejeweled buttons. The hem of his robes was a little soiled, and his boots were slightly muddy where their toes stuck out, but the rest of his garb was meticulously clean. He wore a glittering ring on every finger, some set with precious stones, others not, but all made of gold. The ones with stones seemed almost to glow, and it wasn’t from the fire…

“Ah, you are finally awake, indeed,” he observed, his voice a smooth baritone. To punctuate his statement, there was another _pop!_ and the little monster reappeared beside him, alighting atop the scarlet fabric on his shoulder not unlike a pet bird.

Eliina found she couldn’t speak. Her mouth dropped open as she stared, slack-jawed.

“Master Zhengyi,” he introduced himself with a flourish and a bow, after a moment of awkward silence. “Most recently a Red Wizard of Thay, now come to the North to conduct research of a rather…personal nature. Perhaps you do not remember, but it was I who brought you to safety after your _unfortunate_ ordeal. I do apologize for the condition of your quarters, but I have had little time to prepare a proper residence, you see.”

When Eliina finally found her voice, she offered a sheepish grin and stuck her hand out at him. “Eliina. Of…um…Finland.”

His eyes fell to her hand for a moment before he took it, returning his gaze to hers. She couldn’t read the expression on his face, but it looked like a mixture of amusement and…something else that glittered in those dark eyes. His grip was firm as he shook her hand, almost intimidatingly so.

“Yes, ‘Finland.’ Not of the Realms, certainly,” he finally replied, his tone musing. “While you were recovering, I took the liberty of inspecting the portal through which you fell. It is unlike anything I have ever seen, and judging by your rather _dumbfounded_ reaction to everything around you, I have a feeling it is the same for you, no? You have no idea where you are, do you?”

She let her hand drop to her side after he released it, and she felt a wave of fear creep up on her. He was right. She had absolutely no idea where she was. She didn’t know what the ‘Realms’ were, what ‘Thay’ was, and why anyone wanted to kill her. She didn’t know anything about this strange magic she kept seeing, and it was all rather overwhelming.

“No,” she said, swallowing hard. “I don’t.”

Zhengyi nodded slowly, turning from her and approaching his desk.

“It is a _curious_ thing. This portal you found has been grown over for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and I gather by the way you accidentally found yourself here that its state is much the same in your world.” He passed his hand over a few scrolls on the desk’s surface as he continued. “Brief inspection reveals that it is not capable of opening to the Upper or the Lower Planes, so it is most likely a two-way method of transportation, not a portal with a mutable destination.” He turned back towards her, and the little beast switched shoulders to accommodate its master’s view. “But, unfortunately for you, it is quite dormant now.”

Eliina still wasn’t quite sure she understood precisely what he was saying about her circumstances, but in an attempt to converse with the man, she asked, “Dormant?”

“ _Inactive_ ,” the wizard clarified, enunciating the word as if she were deaf and not merely bewildered. “I _could_ reopen it, of course, in order for you to return home. Of that I have no doubt. But doing so would require _tremendous_ effort on my part. Effort, I think, that would need proper payment in order to complete.”

She sucked in a breath. Of course. Payment. She couldn’t go home without payment. She should have seen this sort of thing coming…

“And that is where we come to these,” he withdrew a small wooden chest from behind a stack of books on the desk, opening it and removing both her necklace and her mojo bag. Her eyes went wide as she recognized them, and he smiled wryly upon seeing her reaction. “You are something of an enchantress, yes? These items have defensive capabilities unlike any I’ve seen in the Realms. And I have studied many an artifact in my lifetime. I wish to know how this is possible.”

Her eyes widened. _Enchantress_? That sounded…well, flattering, if she was completely honest with herself.

“Um, I’m a witch. I mean,” she gestured to her necklace and bag, “those things are just natural protection, really. Nothing all that complicated. Not like what you did back there with all those other warlocks. Er, _wizards_.”

He meandered over towards his chair, eyes focused on the fire in the hearth. “Hmm…interesting. I would like to study these things. And you, Eliina.”

She gulped. “M-me?”

“And why not?” he shrugged as he eased himself into the seat, as if it were a casual thing to treat someone like a scientific specimen. “It will take time to prepare your way back. Time I would like to use to my advantage as much as you would like to use it for yours.”

She huffed out a heavy sigh. She didn’t know how she was going to teach him anything – about the necklace and the bag, or even herself. Magic obviously didn’t work the same way here as it did back home, that was certain. And, on top of that, she hadn’t the slightest clue where to begin. He felt like the expert here, not her.

Her thoughts were a whirlwind as she felt his eyes on her. What if things didn’t go the way he thought they would? What if she was a disappointment? It felt risky. Really, really, risky. And she felt like she should be compensated more fairly for such risk. If she was being completely realistic, she was actually _dying_ to know just how he had helped her back there, and she wanted to know before she went back home, in case she never came back to this strange world.

But how could she get that kind of information out of him?

“Maybe we could teach each other?” she suggested at last, a hopeful smile on her face. “Maybe you could learn from me as I learn from you, and that could tell you even more?”

“ _My_ magic?” Zhengyi asked, his tone one of apparent surprise at her proposal. When she eagerly nodded her affirmation, he stroked his chin thoughtfully, glancing to the devilish creature that yet perched on his shoulder, almost blending in with the scarlet of his robes.

“Well, Eliina,” he said at last, both his eyes and the eyes of the beast glittering in the light. “I shall have to make another bargain for that sort of information, I think.”

“Another?”

He crossed one leg over the other and laced his fingers atop his knee. “You see, Eliina,” he explained, “ _My_ magic has come from decades’ worth of perfecting and researching and _great_ personal sacrifice. To impart such extensive knowledge to you just because you want it would hardly be fair, no?”

He had read her like a book, and Eliina felt incredibly frustrated. “But that’s what you’re asking me to do, too!”

“Oh?” Zhengyi leaned forward, a wry smile tugging at his lips. “ _I_ am not the one in need of someone to open a portal for me to go back home, am I? You forget I’m already giving you something in exchange for what I want. And now you desire to add _my_ personal knowledge to the equation?” He smiled charmingly, “That will require another something from you in order to balance the exchange.”

She pressed her lips together.

 _Perkele_.

Still, she wanted that knowledge. That magic of his. She could use it to help her people when she went back home, she just knew it…

“So,” she began, putting her hands on her hips, “What do _you_ want now?”

His smile never wavered. “As I told you earlier…I require power. And you, little witch, _do_ have power,” he nodded slowly, as if to emphasize the truth of his words. He paused for a moment, then looking thoughtful as he stroked his chin again. “But to ask such of you would be too much, I believe. No, I shall extend this bargain of ours to your grandchildren. One, specifically. One grandchild, yes.” He nodded again to himself as he resolved that would be the appropriate solution. “You must promise me that you will send to me your first grandchild for study in the future. I want to see if this power of yours is hereditary. To request your child would be too close of kin…naturally it would have a chance of transference in such close generations.”

He glanced back up at her, his dark eyes piercing. “What do you say to that, Eliina?”

Grandchildren? Eliina had hardly given thought to simply children at this point in her life. Why would he hinge his modified exchange on something that might not even happen? It seemed rather ridiculous. She tried to weigh the pros and cons in her mind, but being put on the spot as she was, she found it difficult to think clearly.

After a moment, she simply shrugged. If it turned out she never had children anyway, it was his loss, not hers.

“You have a deal, Master Zhengyi,” she sighed.

He smiled at her, then, and the little devilish creature atop his shoulder mirrored that smile, making the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

“Good, Eliina. Good.”


End file.
